Thread: Nasty case of dry rot

It's wet rot not dry rot. I would prime the end grain with a couple of coats of good oil-based paint. By all means use gal nails. Do not seal/bed them in any sealant/adhesive, it'll effectively create a dam which will keep in any moisture that gets in. Why NG rosewood? I didn't think it was a particularly durable timber for exposed areas.

Cheers
Michael

Originally Posted by gordonwindeyer

I have a Western Red Cedar balustrade on my verandah and they have dry rot at the bottom of the balusters.
I suspect the rot is due to:

1. They were fixed with ungalvanised nails
2. The end grain was not primed

So, a bit of water gets under the bottom, the nails rust, more water gets in and away goes the rot.
So I have now made new balusters (130 of them) in NG Rosewood.
And I have primed the end-grain.
Now I need to install them and am thinking my best chance to avoid the dry rot is to fix them by hand nailing with hot dipped galvanised jolt-head nails.
I am also thinking maybe put a bead of Maxbond or similar where the baluster butts the bottom rail.
Attached are photos of:

1. An offending dry-rotted baluster
2. Some of my newly-made replacements

Does anyone have any other suggestions/comments?

Regards

Gordon

It's probably a bit late to say now, but in a big 'design for durability' study done by the US Forestry Service, they found that simple joins with plenty of room for water to run off performed best. Basically any careful joinery with close tolerances was just an excuse for water to get trapped between the surfaces and rot.

Forgot to add... If you are installing back onto the same rail you'll want to sterilize the baluster postions with whatever kills fungii and spores (I'd probably use diluted liquid pool chlorine but that's just my uninformed idea) and then put on a few coats of paint with a mould inhibitor in it. Otherwise you may just reinfect the wood.

All
Thanks for that input.
Some good thoughts for me to work on.


Regards

Gordon

I live in the "Interior western red cedar Hemlock Biogeoclimatic Zone." I've lived in this zone for 40 years.
There is not one WRC tree ( in one hundred) more than 20 years old which has not already started to rot in the core.
You buy that stuff from Canada or anywhere else and you got conned into thinking that it is rot-proof.
Rubbish. If the fungus is already in the wood (100%), then add water and wait.
The deal is to get the butt off the shelf that holds the water. Air space. Or, you should have been told that. Treating the cut ends can't get rid of the fungus 10cm up in the post. Trust me.
Here's an example: WRC picnic table (hexagonal shape) in the back yard. The feet are off the ground on slate stone slabs. That way, the feet can't suck up water, they can't freeze to the ground (then thaw and soak water in the spring).

Nevertheless, a climate as brutal as mine will trash that table in 20 years. If it is your desire for something more durable, I suggest concrete or granite.